Wellbeing Wednesdays: Skills to make you feel good

In March 2021, Crisis’ Enterprise team, together with the House of St Barnabas, Hotel School, Beyond Food and LinkedIn, delivered a series of interactive, online workshops for people with experience of homelessness and an interest in hospitality. The series put a hospitality twist on the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’ at a time when many doors in the industry were forced to stay closed and many of our graduates were furloughed or unemployed.  

Here are some highlights, told using the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’: 

1. CONNECT: We huddled around our screens and shared the ancient magic of preparing and sipping a hot drink together by flavour profiling Crisis’ coffee. 

2. BE ACTIVE: We really did ‘move our mood’ by dancing and learning stretching routines together. 

3. KEEP LEARNING: Too many to choose… Learning to fillet a mackerel was pretty unexpected, and breathing techniques to help manage stress were very well received.  

4. GIVE: The gift of recommendations created a joyful playlist of songs that made us feel good.

5. TAKE NOTICE: Award-winning photographer Tom Oldham set a photography challenge to accompany the series “to shoot one, or all, of the five stages of wellbeing.” Find the exhibition here. 

Sessions ran for 1 hour at 11am and 2pm each Wednesday for 5 weeks. All that was needed to take part in most sessions was data or WI-FI and a device, though the first session needed a kettle and a mug too.

You can find a little trailer on YouTube.

It really was joyful to connect online. Thank you to all who participated, delivered sessions or supported in all number of wonderful ways.